# The people of my mind. Ch.1 Introduction to MECO

Author: MrZeke
Tags: Clean, Intro, Introduction, Sci-Fi, Story

I'm not sure how you got here, but welcome to the place where I keep all the characters that I dream up that are dear to me.&nbsp; Many of my friends here have spent a great number of years with me.&nbsp; We have had many adventures together in various forms, but... outside of my mind, they don't exist.&nbsp; I know it's a bit depressing and that they should all have had their stories written and told countless times over now... but they are of My mind.&nbsp; Creations to help me during times of strain and the years where expression outwardly was taboo and the makings of a vulnerability to be attacked&nbsp;repeatedly.&nbsp; Even after that time passed, the anxiety remains.&nbsp; That suffocating weight, that makes feel like you have to force your heart to beat and your lungs to breathe.&nbsp; The icy numbness that cramps your fingers and fogs your mind.&nbsp; That kind of anxiety that persists not only at the beginning of a task but steadily grows through&nbsp;out and becomes a constant ominous roar as end of what you need done inches painstakingly closer.&nbsp; Decades of that have robbed my friends of their chance of being.&nbsp; Beings of little more than figments of my imagination.&nbsp; Every day I feel shame that I did not press on harder for each and every one of them to have their story told.&nbsp; The times we shared together... for most of them, are fading from my mind.

If you would indulge me, I would like to use you to make some sort of amends for this and introduce you, the reader, to those that are literally precious IN my mind.&nbsp;

Not all at once of course.&nbsp; That would be silly, and confusing.&nbsp; Almost everyone here were unique to the universe that they were from, and that the only commonality for them... for as self centered as it sounds, is me.&nbsp; Nevertheless the one who has waited the longest to have a proper introduction is MECO.

MECO is short for Medical Companion.&nbsp; In the universe that MECO hails from society had made great advances in medical technology, so much so that the expected lifespan for humans extended into the 130-140 year range.&nbsp; Coupling that with and ever slowing birth rate meant that most of humanity was quickly becoming too old to naturally have children, creating a large labor gap.&nbsp; Too many needing long term care, too few to grow up and take care of them.&nbsp; At first robots and automatons were used as a stop gap for manual labor and other less "thought inducing" occupations.&nbsp; For health care though, people wanted&nbsp; real, organic, living,&nbsp;doctors&nbsp;to care for them.&nbsp; Even with all the automation, not every person born can become a nurse to look after the elderly, so something a bit more drastic was developed.&nbsp; Organic beings grown and conditioned, nay, programmed with a bevy of technical and&nbsp;medical knowledge to become the new core of civil servants for this society.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In a utopia it might have worked as intended, but time makes fools of us all.

Even with fantastical science,&nbsp;it took over 10&nbsp;years before the first generation of Bio-Mechanical assistants went into service, and with mixed results at that.&nbsp; Yes, they were doing the job that they were made for, but they weren't&nbsp;made, they were living beings that were&nbsp;grown.&nbsp; Most of them buckled under the mental pressure of caring for people that treated them with all the dignity and grace of a motorized garbage can.

Not surprising, nature solved this problem with time.&nbsp; After about 40 years, the birth rate had climbed back up some, and a good number of the elderly naturally passed on.&nbsp; Although there was still a need for Bio-Mechanical beings, it had become less of a mass production to cover anything and everything, it had become specialized and customized for a discerning clientele.&nbsp;&nbsp;

MECO herself is of the last generation of the "mass production models" .&nbsp; I say herself because that's how she identifies.&nbsp; Although some, how do I put this,&nbsp;"models" carry the equipment for sexuality,&nbsp; none that I know of can actually reproduce.&nbsp; MECO is without gender, and absolutely hates to be called an "it", therefore chose to be a she.&nbsp; As far as a Medical Companion, her skillset is focused to the long-term care of those with chronic illnesses and/or disabilities that would require frequent treatments and such.&nbsp; Part physical therapist, dietitian, nursemaid, and all around great listener. MECO herself is short, shorter than most of her generation, about five foot two inches tall, and a very slender build.&nbsp; Despite that the muscles she has are well toned.&nbsp; On the day I first met her she&nbsp;was so pale it seemed like the sun tried to avoid her. (she's not like that now).&nbsp;She has strait&nbsp;dark hair that she keeps just above the shoulders and&nbsp;her normal, informal, outfit is a button up short sleeve work shirt and shorts.&nbsp; When I first met her however, she had showed up to my house in, I kid you not, blue scrubs via a taxi from the hospital that wanted to be paid.&nbsp;

She was mistakenly sent to me&nbsp;after a hospital visit for a sinus infection, because apparently the code for that is right next to some unpronounceable neurological disease that requires constant training and a diet mostly fruit, nuts, and fish to keep at bay.&nbsp; I called up the hospital to tell them&nbsp;that she was mistakenly sent to me and that she wasn't necessary, to which a phone cut in on the automated system&nbsp;to someone who had a title so convoluted that I can only assume it meant "guardian of the stuff in the cellar."&nbsp; &nbsp;He told me he knew about the mix up, he mixed it up on purpose.&nbsp; MECO's generation was being phased out of service, and although I don't exactly&nbsp;know what phased out implies for someone like her, I know what that means for basic machinery.&nbsp; He was giving as many MECO's as he could a chance to have, not only a long service life, but a long life in general.&nbsp; According to the rules that he told me if a MECO was in service at the time of the "cutoff" they wouldn't be replaced until their duties for that patient were complete.&nbsp; Since at the time I was a young man, that would mean almost a century of time for her.&nbsp; For a MECO, a lifetime and a half.&nbsp; I had a million questions for him, but he stopped me and said.&nbsp; "Listen, all you need to know right now is this.&nbsp; Sometime in the near future someone is going to knock on your door and ask you about how satisfied you are with your MECO.&nbsp; YOU tell them that it is YOUR MECO and YOU DON'T&nbsp;want an upgrade. You tell them that no matter what they offer.&nbsp; After that,&nbsp;they will have you sign a form, and after that I can contact you again once things have processed.

So naturally, I took his advice, remembered his instructions, and took in this little nurse that could soon have less than no where to go.&nbsp; Why?&nbsp; The answer to that came to me in pieces over time.

In the story we shared a small apartment, and after some adjustments for both of us, seemed to find a balance.&nbsp; That person did knock at the door, and I told her what I had to say, and repeated it verbatim every time she made a new offer.&nbsp; MECO watched this exchange...&nbsp;she had the right to.&nbsp; Even though everyone else saw her as much property as a dairy cow, she had the right to see the discussion of her fate.&nbsp; Ultimately I got to&nbsp;keep&nbsp;MECO and all of the challenges that went with her.&nbsp; The voice on the phone would call up from time to time offering "customer support" for her long term care.

Thank you reader for helping&nbsp;me get started and&nbsp;finally having people like MECO have a place that is somewhere that isn't just in my min

Source: https://sofurry.com/s/Rm0z4yZ1

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